Minnesota Vikings rookie wide receiver Greg Childs is nursing a calf injury that has prevented him from fully participating in offensive scrimmages but expects to be healthy enough to run routes at minicamp next week.

“Yeah, of course,” he said Tuesday, June 12, during organized team activities.

The fourth-round draft pick only recently emerged from an 18-month rehabilitation from a torn patella tendon in his right knee that knocked him down from a top-tier prospect. Needless to say, Childs is anxious to prove he can perform more than basic drills.

“Nobody likes to be sidelined. I wanted to get out there two weeks ago. But it wasn’t time for me to get out there to start running around yet, so I just have to wait,” he said. “Right now I’m doing just a little bit.”

Brian Murphy has been on the Pioneer Press sports staff since 2000, migrating from the Detroit Free Press, where he covered police, courts and sports for four years. Murphy was the Minnesota Wild/NHL beat writer from 2002 to 2008 and has covered the Vikings as a reporter and columnist since 2009. Murphy is a Detroit native and Wayne State University graduate.

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